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Origin and history of teen

teen(n.1)

"teen-aged person," 1818 (but rare before 20c.), from -teen. Probably later felt as short for teenager, which is a later word. As an adjective meaning "of or for teenagers," from 1947.

teen(n.2)

"grief, sorrow, trouble, harm inflicted," now obsolete, Middle English tene, from Old English teona. Also "irritation, vexation." As a verb, "to afflict," from Old English teonian.

Entries linking to teen

pre-teen(adj.)

also preteen, "just prior to one's teenage years," 1926, from pre- + teen. As a noun, "pre-teen person," from 1962. Sub-teen (1944) also was used.

teenage(adj.)

also teen age, teen-age; "in or including the teen years," 1911, from teen (n.1) + age (n.). Originally in reference to Sunday School classes. The form teen-aged (adj.) is from 1922.

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Trends of teen

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

tween
also 'tween, c. 1300 as an abbreviation of between. As a noun meaning "child nearing puberty" (approximately ages 9 to 12), attested by 1988, in this case by influence of teen. Tolkien uses it in "Lord of the Rings" for "the irresponsible twenties between [Hobbit] childhood and c
adolescent
mid-15c., "youth, young person, one who is growing up," from French adolescent (15c.) or directly from Latin adolescentem/adulescentem (nominative adolescens/adulescens) "young man or woman, a youth," noun use of an adjective meaning "growing, near maturity, youthful." The adject
fifteen
; a symbol representing this number;" Old English fiftyne, from fif "five" (from PIE root *penkwe- "five") + tyne (see -teen...French quinze, Italian quindici "fifteen" are from Latin quindecim (from quinque "five;" see quinque-; + -decim (see -teen...
spaz
also spazz, by 1959, U.S. teen slang phrase, typically in later use a put-down, apparently a derogatory shortening of spastic...[Parade Magazine, March 1, 1959] [Y]our teen-aged daughter asks what you think of her "shades," which you are canny enough...
outrageous
.; modern teen slang usages of it unwittingly approach the original and etymological sense of outrage....
bobby sox
Now no teen-ager dares wear anything but pure white socks without a fold. [Life magazine, Dec. 11, 1944]...
generate
c. 1500, "to beget" (offspring), a back-formation from generation or else from Latin generatus, past participle of generare "to beget, produce," from genus "race, kind" (from PIE root *gene- "give birth, beget," with derivatives referring to procreation and familial and tribal gr
rocker
1852, "a rocking chair," American English, agent noun from rock (v.1). Middle English had rokker, "nurse charged with rocking a cradle" (early 14c.). In sense of "one of the curved pieces of wood that makes a chair or cradle rock" it dates from 1787. Meaning "one who enjoys rock
juvenile
1620s, "young, youthful," from Latin iuvenilis "of or belonging to youth, youthful," from iuvenis "young man, one in the flower of his age" (in Roman use, the period just beyond adolescence, from age 21 or 25 to 40), noun use of an adjective meaning "young" (source also of French

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